looking back @ ramadan 14 days on

A prayer request is what I ask for before I start my entry for today. The prayer is for my bro from Iraq – Bro Mohamed whose mother has a tumor growing on her neck. They are right now in different cities in Iraq and the family is awaiting news as to what the next course of action will be with regards to his mom’s situation. Be it surgery be it medication. Please keep them in your prayers with hope that what ever course of action is, it will be a positive one and everything will be alright for this family. Thank you in advance.

Two weeks of Ramadan already – where did all the time go? Two more weeks and Ramadan will be gone and we will be celebrating Eid. Right now people are busy getting ready for the day – baking, sewing clothes and curtains and what not. I can smell freshly baked cookies coming out from my neighbor’s window. That’s the fun part of the coming Eid; you can get a whiff of such beautifully smelling cakes and cookies from the neighbor’s houses. I often wonder what kind of cookies or cakes they are making; if we are making the same types. If only I had binoculars – hah wait that would be qualify me as a stalker.

The 14^th of Ramadan was also the night of the full moon. The night I watched the mom and daughter pandas wrestle each other at zoo Atlanta. I talked to my friend about soul mates and of love which seem to be around quiet a lot of these days – the topic just not the love. The term love used ever so loosely – what a shame I think sometimes how something as beautiful can be so easily tarnished. But anyways, for me love is beautiful its us mere mortals who tarnish it as Bon Jovi said – You give love a bad name ;)),,, I didn’t even know where that came from it just popped into my head .. heh … Today I re – affirm certain things in my life well one particular thing which I blogged about yesterday. It seems you get answers to life’s questions when you least expect them and then that’s when you go ‘ ahhhhhhhh ‘ – today was such a day.. Today a friend found true love after all the jerks that’s been thrown at her. *grin*. She is really happy and deserves to be seeing the tears and hurts she has had to endure. I guess when you open your heart to love – it comes in from the most unexpected places.

Humility was what the sermon before iftar was about today. It’s about being down to earth with what we have and who we are and not try to prove we are better than anyone else. We are all always evolving in our lives and just because we have achieved something doesn’t mean we have to be arrogant or say someone else is not as good as us. Our status, our jobs, our wealth, our educational qualifications shouldn’t make us arrogant or proud toward others – if anything it should make us humble because even if what we achieve has been through hard work and sweat – it is still life’s gift a blessing from a Higher power. We shouldn’t look down on someone if the worked a menial job or didn’t finish school or just because they are from a certain place are deemed lower than us. The sermon also mentioned tolerance and respect to our fellow men people of other races and faith. Our differences are what make us unique and it’s that uniqueness that should used to bring people together. Being uniquely who we are doesn’t mean we condemn someone else just because they are not like us or think we are better than everyone else. Islam preaches tolerance for different religions contrary to what the radical Muslims are portraying in the Middle East and elsewhere.

Today the simplest of food made for a very filling iftar. I was too tired to cook and mom was craving for some local food so I ended up buying ‘lontong’ which is a dish of rice cakes and gravy. That was what she wanted. Along side that we had fried some chicken drum lets and samosas. Not a lot like we usually have but it was enough - it seems but it did fill the table and our stomachs.

As Ramadan is a time of reflection I like to look back on the past two weeks of fast, see if have grown if have fully utilized the opportunities given in this great month. Getting close to God and strengthening ones faith is a struggle I must say. It’s not an easy road but it is sure a rewarding one. I have seen how life seems to get better when you get closer to your faith, you deal better and you ever so often have this sense of peace. Contentment if you could call it that and I hope it stays no matter what life decides to throw at me……